Hello friends,
So today we are going to be doing a kids loving-kindness practice.
It's going to be very short,
Just six minutes of practice.
And we are just going to focus on developing the feeling of loving-kindness.
That's all that we're really going to do.
In a longer practice,
You would usually take that feeling and you might apply it to yourself,
Apply it to loved ones,
Those near to you,
Then apply it to those that you are indifferent towards,
And then apply it to those that you are hostile towards,
And finally apply it to the whole world.
But we're going to skip all that other stuff and just focus on experiencing and kindling the feeling of loving-kindness because that's the source of it all.
And really,
If we can kindle that feeling of loving-kindness,
Then we can allow that to flow out into the whole world,
Into the entirety of our phenomenal experience,
And that is the meditation.
Then it touches on everything and everyone.
So I think that the most essential thing is just that,
That learning to experience loving-kindness deeply,
And so that's what we're going to be doing today.
So as usual,
We're going to be either sitting with a straight back on a cushion,
In a chair,
Or lying down on your back with a straight back but remaining wakeful.
We'll be going into a state of deep rest but one which is wide awake,
Almost like falling asleep while remaining wide awake.
And we'll be falling asleep into a feeling of loving-kindness,
Which arises in the heart region,
And that's where we're going to be experiencing it right now.
So to begin,
We take a few deep breaths.
We shake out any excess energy.
Shake our hands,
Perhaps.
We can shake our body around a little bit.
Shake out that energy,
Loose and free,
Like a dancer about to go on onto the stage.
Loose and free,
Opening it up,
Opening up the muscles,
Opening up the channels and energies,
The emotions,
Opening up the mind.
So three deep breaths with each breath.
As we breathe in,
We experience whatever knots we have in our emotional body,
In our physical body,
In our mental body,
And we tighten our fists as a kind of symbol of those knots.
As we're breathing in,
We experience the tightness,
And as we breathe out,
We release everything.
So on three,
We breathe in.
One,
Two,
Three,
Breathing in.
All the way,
Feeling the tightness and releasing everything.
One,
Two,
Three.
Experiencing the tightness and releasing.
Last one,
One,
Two,
Three.
Releasing,
Total release.
Our meditation is always a balance between tightness and looseness.
Not so tight that we have any tightness in the body,
Any tightness in the emotions,
But not so loose that we become sloppy or slump or sleepy.
So it's always a very fine balance,
But there's really a beautiful,
Wide-open path there between those two.
It's just hard to see it at first.
All right,
So now let's get started with the meditation.
And we'll begin now with a brief meditation on the head.
I want you to focus your attention on the center of the forehead,
Perhaps the third eye region,
Something like that.
Just bring your attention right there.
And feel the sensations that are there,
Whatever they are.
Tightness,
Looseness,
Shimmeriness,
Electricity,
Warmth,
Coolness,
Whatever you're feeling there.
Just feel that,
Experience it.
Just hold your attention there for a few moments.
But relax.
Don't hold on to the sensations,
Just experience them.
Now I want you to move quickly to the back of your head,
Right kind of at the same spot in the head,
But right at the very back.
Now feel the sensations on the back of the head in that same basic location,
Up,
Down,
Left,
Right,
Right at the back of the head.
Just loosely experience those sensations.
And you can relax.
If there's any tension there,
You can relax it.
And just feel whatever there is to feel.
And now from the back of the head,
I want you to take the little sphere or disk of your attention and move it right into the center of the head where the brain is.
And feel what it is that you can feel there,
Not what you think is there.
Don't get stuck in thinking about things or speculating.
But what do you actually feel right there?
So slowly move from the center of the head right or from the back of the head right to the center of the head.
Just feel what there is to feel there.
You can relax.
If there's any tension in the body or the mind or the emotions.
Just experience that openness there.
There's a freedom there.
Now I want you to lift up your hands to about shoulder height.
And on three,
We're going to drop the hands.
And as we drop the hands,
We'll just let them drop naturally.
And we're going to drop our attention from the center of the head down into the heart region.
Not the literal heart,
But the metaphorical heart that's at the center of the chest.
So,
One,
Two,
Three,
Drop!
And now here we are at the center of the chest.
Now here I want you to feel what you feel here.
Whatever it is,
Just feel it.
And now I want you to imagine your mom or your dad or maybe your pet.
Something that you love dearly and that you feel loves you in return.
I want you to imagine them and I want you to focus on the feeling in the heart region.
What is that feeling?
It's a feeling of brightness.
Do you feel some joy?
Do you feel a warmth?
That's the feeling of loving kindness.
And now if the feeling goes away,
You can bring back the idea of your mom or your dad or your pet.
But I want you to just feel that feeling and I want you to let it just radiate out into your whole body.
Just make it,
It's just a little fire,
Just a little tiny one.
Kindle it,
Make it big.
Make it big.
Make it big by relaxing into it.
Let it fill your whole body,
Let it spill out into the whole world.
And we'll do that for the next 30 seconds until the meditation ends.
Just letting that loving kindness at the heart spill out.
Spill out into the body,
Filling the body like light,
Like a liquid light,
Spilling out into the world.
Thank you for joining me on this little adventure into the heart.
And may this meditation serve you well.
You can expand that feeling of loving kindness out.
You can focus so deeply onto it.
You can bring it up in any situation.
You can rest in it anytime.
It's always there for you.
And it comes up just once you learn to find it,
Once you learn to cultivate it,
It comes up so easily in any situation.
So I think it can be a great friend to you in your life,
However that might be.
And I hope that,
As always,
You will dedicate this practice to your highest aim,
Your highest goal.
May you be happy and well.
